KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Nov. 27 (UPI) -- A Tennessee man has been charged with shooting out a traffic camera, allegedly telling police he wanted to avoid a ticket for running a red light.

Clifford Edward Clark III of Knoxville was arrested early Sunday morning by officers who heard shots fired, WBIR-TV reported. The officers reported finding Clark in his car with a hunting rifle and the camera with three holes in it.

He was charged with felony vandalism and reckless endangerment.

Clark had a new box of bullets with four of them missing, police said. One of the bullets apparently tore right through the camera casing, police alleged.

Investigators say there is no record that Clark had received a ticket from a red-light camera. But they said that records were only available through Nov. 20.

Posted Nov-27-2007 By

Maxisminion

except with a slight variation: shooting at the lens with a paint gun a bunch of times to see if that interferes with it. but it'd be hard to prove whether that works -- easier to blow it away with a gun (but i'd worry about the trajectory of the bullet if falls and potentially hurts someone)